Fire-extinguishing system ajtd apparatus



A. L. REYNOLDS. HRE ExTmmsHlNG SYSTEM AND APPARATUS.

L, REYNOLDS. XHNGUISHWG SYSTEM AND APPARATUS.

HREE

APPLICATION F|LEDOCY.22,1912.

` frise 'errer re.

' Specification er Lettersfatent.

ALV LEIN REYNQLDS, OF LOE'IG BEACH, CA'LIFORNA.

, FnE- EXTNGUsEING srsfrniir AND Ammer-irme.

[Application filed Getober 22;!912. Serislo. 727,243. I

TriaZl-fwkmnz't may concern.: A

Be it known that I, inve-LEMAN' ReijnnLns, n. citizen of the United States, residing at Leng Beach, vin xthe enmity'v of Losv Angeles and 'State `of California,- heve invented irnew 'and useful Fire-Extinguishing set rortlr.

An object of this invention ten-mire prof vision whereby efficient. fire extinguishing apparatils can be consirntly kept in readiness :it miniinrnn expenseto be 'put intoiin'rneIA .diete use for .extinguishing @he ylire 'wit-hout 'waiting on engines'er pumps, -andwhereby the cost nfinnintnining'this system and keepingitin readiness for use will be ininivinized.4 A[The principle of this invent-ion isthai:v n

supply of waiter is-feonstantly'.Innintained iinder n fire pressure, as, for instance-,from '10() to T20 pounds per square inch, and'tliere is established and maintained a bodyvef Compressed air under e high pressure, say 5 00 pounds, mere -or less, per square inch, and sufficient to expel from the water container, et the firepressu-re, all ef theI watercoutnined therein, said container being connected n-'itn fire apparatus sneh-asjre'plugs v,and hose ai. lle Aplacesridere Cnnilgrnion might eeenr. Provision is also mndevwhere by water mayv be supplier" to the rezserfoir limited capacity soithzit a. large ninniier'o weils from widely scattered territorjflnev be brought into requi ien for' etinguisliing fire in a limitedleeality 1elien desired. 'I

'A further f the invention impro-- fide a lire extinguishing "system in 'which a the most sntisnewry' and economical manner for the exinguishingf' fires inthe vieini'y ofeneh unit, thus givingeernomical prriteetien for .various sect-ions of a city and also to ineke provision whereby the 'aerien of all of the units may be eoneenrred upon any one localiy.v i

This invention is more particularly intended for use in l'oealitiiejs` vhere-grzwity pressure is not available andwh'ere'it isnoivf customary te employ fire enginesfte pro# duce vthe fire pressure' neeessaryte Ineke.'A th'e water effective in putting 'out the fi're,jbiit. it

is understood t-lialahe system maybe', in the' i I .ngrture'ef an emergeneysystem befoper ated either mdep endentlyI orLin een] unetlien wim ne presepe fue @geringe-fishing Sysems where a'rtilieialpoweris s npp'liedto produce the lire pressure.

A further object venable grmv'mgtown te'have-a eo'inplete fire protection plant supplied nbmiminium cost and Cep-able of beingiinereased by cuinn` lzzrive extensions as' the 'teren grows The accompanying invention. A

Figure l is rnginentn-l plan `of :i system constructed :ind installed in accordance willi this invention and slim-'fing one'snppiy unit ef the .s3/siem intact, v Figi Zisnn elevation of the unit slnewn in Fig. i

reeeiitedn'ug; i, wie;

-urge number of units may be employed in- -Ifthe'inventi'on is Le plant or with a plurality of pumping Aduring` Ivne operation' of discharging .water of the' system in which ii. is.connected.v Fig'. from the container :1 'the {ire-pressure, -it S-is zr derail side eleation ef the autonmtie heingpossihle lijf the airsterage 'rn utilize a, air reg'dlating device showing one of the nmxin'nnnf amount ef writerv linde-r the' lire combined pneumatic:-nndjspring motors -nessure with n iw-'en amount el: iower'af; :irtlv'in secr-ien: the ainfvalv'e beine" closed i n i D the pumping plant. by the strinding pressure of the. water con'- Tlie invention 1s zipplieeble'forihe protectemer side: Fig. 4 is a d1ngrnm matie plan tion' of isolated buildings, bridges, Wharfs of a sysem embed-ying the invention. F

v and nher structures, singly in Connection 5 is zideteil of ene of the :inteinatie'reverserl with one unit, m' any desired number of flow. lay-pag connections between wo supbuililings in connection with e single pump ply units. Y

A Referring iirst te the system there plants shown eeinprises three water mein distrieis The invenion is espeeiany designee for or sections; A, B, C, each comprising were? mains D havin intersections E end, fire F, seid meins oi" t" "s 1.1" de, and connes?. 1i Legetnei e. tomeie re eier is obtained wells having (i detailed in Fig. 5, ewa-h ee f drawingsillusigrate the and a fragment Which connections consists of a by-pass having two limbs H, I, and two by-pass valves J, K, there being a pipe L connected With a main on one side of the by-pass connection, and with a combined spring and pressure valve motor M that is arranged to be acted on by the pressure in the main to clse the valve when the pressure from the. supply side reaches the maximum fire pressure, said motor being provided With springs N to open the valve when the pressure is loW- ered from any reason as the discharge of water from the fire extinguishing devices which may be hose nozzles or other suitable apparatus.

The supply units P, Q, and R are connected with the water main sections A, B, C, respectively, and are separated by the automatic connections G. It is understood that said supply units are located at places where water is available from Wells S. or any othei suitable source, and are distributed throughout the system in a practically uniform manner.

Referring more particularly now to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 which illustrate a supply unit, it is to be understood that the same includes a water 'pumping' and storing apparatus T andan air compressing and storing apparatus U arranged to work automatically to supply wzer under a determined pressure to the main.

The water container 1 may be formed of a plurality of tanks 2 constructed of boiler'- iron or steel and are of as small cross-seetional area as deemed practical, thus to afford at small cost, a desired capacity with sulicient strength to withstand a pressure considerably above that required for fire extinguishing purposes.

The tanks of each container are connected by means of inlet pipes 3 and outlet pipes 4, and means are provided for supplying air pressure to said tanks so that the water stored in the tanks may be constantly available through the outlet pipes 4 which open from the bottom of the tanks into the main that is connected with the system of water mains l) which lead to the various places G at which lires are liable to occur, and are connected there with fire extinguishing apparatus as the nozzles 7.

The water tanks 2 are of such radius as to be practical for containingthe water under the determined working or fire. pressure with a required co-efiicient of safety. The water tanks arel supplied with water from a pump S through a pipe 9-controlled b v check valve l() and connected with the inlet pipes 3. Said container should have a desired capacity caleulatml to be amply sullicient for any emerge'ncr that may be required of it, and the capacity of the container mayl be incuase. by increasing the number ot the tanns. Ilicair receiver ll is also composed ofa plurality of tanks, and each of the air tanks l2 is of such strength as to sustain a comparatively high pressure, say 500 pounds per square inch; and with this object in view said tanks are of sn'raller diameter than the water tanks, say, for instance three feet in diameter and fifteen feet in height, more or less, so as to have a coefficient of safety under the higher pressure without excessive cost of material.

The air compressor 13 is connected with the air tanks 12 by a pipe 1l having a check valve 15, the connection being made directly with one of said tanks; and the tanks are connected together at the t-op by the air pipesI 1G from which the air supply pipe 17 leads to the tops of water tanks 2 that are connected at the top by the water container air connections 1S which open into the tops of the tanks. The air pipe 17 is provided with a regulating valve 19 that is controlled by a combined pneumatic and spring motor L consisting of the cylinder 20, piston 21 inside said cylinder, piston rod 22 connected therewith and yielding means 23 to return the piston against the air pressure; the cylinder being connected by the motor pipe 24, with the air pipelimb 17 between the valve 1S) and the water container; and the piston rod 22 being connected with the valve arm 9 25, the force of the `yielding means 23 is exerted to normally open the valve when the pressure in the water container is lowered nearly to the desired fire pressure, say below a static pressure of about 125 pounds, and is capable of being overcome by the action of the air against the piston 21 whenever the pressure in the limb 17 somewhat exceeds the required tire pressure. The tension of the springs may be regulated by tension bolt and nut 26, 2T, to make the apparatus more or less sensitive. The Water container air pipe limb 17 is connected by the water motor controller air pip'e 2S with a pumpY controlling motor b that is of the same construction as the motor a., the piston rod 2i), however, being connected with the electric switch 3() and adapted to normally close said switch when the pressure in the limb 17 falls below the static pressure ot the water container and the limb 17 determined by the motor a; the electric switch Il() for the pump vmotor 31 being normally held open by the air pressure in the motor and closed by the force of the springs 23 when the pressure falls below the static pressure to which the apparatus is set, so that whenever water is allowed to flow from ti'e water container, the springs 23 close the switch Ill), thus supplying energy from the electric. system S12/to drive the water pump 8. 'lhe air compressor 13 is operated by. an electric motor 33 which receives energy from the electricsystem 32 through a switch 34 that is controlled by the high .other lire apparatus is si neefje@ 'tively of the. apparatus, and the pipe 28 is provided with a reiefA pet cock 38.

Thespump 8 is connected by its inte-ke pipe 39 with any suitable seuree of: supply as'thewell-S. v

lili-practice when the Water containers and-the air receiver are empty; the spring side of the inetrs a, I) and c willelie uetive, openingthe vali-'e 19 end closing the switchesl 30,1ind-34; and v the pump meter 31 and :iireompressermotor will operi ate the pump and air eQmpi-esser te fill the tanks. When 'the'pressu-re in' the wet-er ccntuiiierl has risenfto the 'normal 'static pressure, the pneumatic sides of the meters a and b will operate to clese vthe veive l5) and to openthe power switch BQ, thus stopping the pump i8 and preventing tlieprcssure from rising `any higher -inl .the i container.

The springsidef-t-he high pre sure motor 0, however,v rei'nuins active 'until the pres sure fin-the air receiver meeste-the nerinnl thereupon-said switch isfclesedimd the whole apparatus beeon'ies quiescent.. Whenever a. Water plug'of 'the s 'rs'tein is Opened, the pressure iu'the writer c mediately lowerederidjtlie ring sides ef themailers r; and L epe-rate iespecil'ely te Open the filaire 19 and close the s'i"i :li 3G;

thus immediately bring-ing up thepressure.l in it isjessun'ied that owing ie highly inflammable conditions e sudden and great conflfigratien rugingvlin biecir 6 sin' the upper lefteemer of the view mid it Wiil he noted t-hstull (if-the re'piugs immediately :ivai'leblefor .use on seid bleek are indicated as belng connecte;r with lire hose- 7, thus Creatin?, e large 'demaiid for water at that part of'- the system. .The heavy bleek arrows iu the Abody et' the Yview indicate the flew of water'- from the several sup` pig; units teu-'ard said bleek 6" te supply such demand. in the lower ieitcerner zur iu i block il, and. lighter er i'iew i Weiter tei-fard that pour tziiiier is iiiiit is .assumed that. the storage capacity for vany secticn will be suflicieiit to take cere of :my i'ire that is liff le to occur provide@ the .fire apparatus is put to work at the' incipieney of the. fire and that only on extraordinary "occasions will the vhole syst-ern be called ii'ito operation as suggested in Fig. 4.

After the emergency is over, the water 'container may' again be' iilled with water 'und the system thus made ready for utu e fictieu. in the process of making ready it muy he found necessary to Opeiithe pel;-

Vceci: te allow air to escupe from. the

waiter container sufficiently te -allow seid centiiiiier to be properl-yfilled with water..

The water in the sei-'eral containers t0- gether with the air pressure in the sir' receivcrs rei'iresent the storage supply efwiiter ulii'ays held iu escessef the cupiicityof the pumps.' and this surplus storage serves as :L reinfercemeiit of the siipi'i'ly always (in hund in case ci? -ei'i'iergenci,es which cri-libe brought into play iu excess ef the :iii-mint of writer obtuinzible frein the dilereiit pumping plunts in the system.

By means of the reverse flow ey-pvziss coniiectiens, the'static pressure rigid the supply unit of euch district remain .undisturbed trict; und `when the drain en suchother district is excessive, the pressure in the remaining districts is 'zit once 'uyiiilable therefor-through the ivy-pass connections.

The springs of the in01tQrs,J,4 K, -fer the" liy-piiss valves of euch district are Vse't. so that the water pressurerom .the mais D of' :i district uct-ing throughthe pipe L ofthe' cgi-"luider M 0i' suchvmotor' will 'aliew the' springN to open the valve when the pres-- sure iu the, main fails u few pounds bei inw the ntic fire pressureeitheunits, thus :Allowing lie-static iirepressure eiezich system te be iiuiuituined at the normal in eecli 'district independently 0f the Others until the demand :it plugs within .that district @if en emergency demand from other dist-rics is suiiicient te exhaust the high pressure in thereceiiier.

7i .e of 'air may not only be suicient toexpel the water from thecontainer, but may else be suihcienti to expel water freni seine part of the mains through the plugs 'F or @eher eut-let and it is deemed desirable to allow the air to .escape et the. pet ceci: 38.\i-'henever the system is being again filled with wat-en I eieimzl,

l. lire extinguishing system ceii'iprisinf water container; ineens te suppiy wet-er "rete under pressure; means 't ,er Jfrom the container under e conduct nir from 1 to the water container; mechanism to cut ott and control the flow of air through said conducting means: means connected with and operated by the pressure in the water container to .-n'itoinatically open the cut-ott' mechanism when ,the .pressure in the water container falls below" the lpredeterinined pressure and toclose the cut-off Awhen the. pressure in the water container exceeds said predeternlined pressure; ineansoperated by the pressure in the water container to start the water supplying means into operation when the water pressure. iu the container falls below the predetermined pressure, and means operated by the` pressure. in the air container to start the air compressing means when the pressure in thel air container falls below its maximum and continue to operate until thfe required air pressure is reached even after the air-supplying means has been -cut oli'.

2. In'an automatic fire extinguishing appa ratiis'comprising a water-Containing tank supplied with air pressure; an air-coiitain ingr tank supplied with air under a pressure exceeding the pressure. in said wateruoiitainiug tank,"regulating iiieausl between the wiatersrontaining tank'- and the ai'r-con- -tainingtank whereby air pressure from the latter may be conveyed to the former. the

combination `of a'n,electrically-operated air 4conipiessor for maintaining the required --z 'pressure in sa'id air-containingr tank, switch connectionsfor controlling said electricallg2 operated compressor, vand automatic means for n'iakingand breaking said-switch connections for starting and stopping'the air compressor accordingr to the. needs and demands of pressure coniflitions in said tanks.

3. In a system of the character described having a water-containiug tank, an air-containingr tank, a pump to supply water to said 'water-containing tank and to retill it- \\liriieverA water is beingr \\'ithdra\\-'n therefrom,- aii air compressor for compressing the air in said air-containing tank, regulating means between said watencoutaining tank and air-containingtank for supplyingr air pressure to said water-containing tank from said air-containing tank andtliereby maintain the required pressure in said water-con` tainingr tank, theV pressure i'n s-iid air-,containing tank exceeding the pressure being conveyed. to the. water-(,:ontainingr tank` means for simultaneously operatingr said pump and air compressor to replenish water to said water-containing tank and air to said air-containing tank, respectively, and

means to operate said air compressor even after said pump has come to rest t0 conair-eontaininf`r tank until the required pres'- sure. is obtained in said air-ccntaining tank.

4. An vautoniatic fnje. extinguishing apparatus comprising one or morewater containing tanks supplied with air pressure; one or more air-containing tanks supplied with air under pressure; and regulating tiuue to supply air under pressure to said v means between the water-eontaining vtanks i ingr tanks ada ptedto throw' said switches into contact to operate the air compressors whenever the air pressure. in said air-containing tanks falls and to throw1 said switches out of contact when the air pressure has been refstoi'ed. l In an automatic fire extinguishing apparatus comprising a water-eontaining tanksupplied with aii pressure, an' air-contain-V ingr tank supplied with vair undeia pressure exceeding the an' vpressure in said watereontaining tank` regulating means between the. water-containing tank andthe ai r-cQntaining tank whereby air pressure from the latter may be conveyed to theforiner and to maintain the required p ressnre.- in the lat-ter whei'iever water Ais bein(r withdiawnf i' from said latter. the combination of au ,electrically-operated pump for re-filling "the watercontaini-ng tank :whenever water* is beingr drawn therefrom, an electrically9perated compressor for supplying air to the aii containing tank to restore the. pressure therein whenever it is being reducedA to restorepressure in saidwatencontaining tank, switch connect-ions for controlling said elee.-

trically-operated pump and conipres'sor,anel.Y

automatic means for making and breaking said switch connections for starting and stopping the compressor and pump according to the needs and demands of pressure conditions in said "tanks, A

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles, California, this 17th day of October, 1912.

ALV A LEMAN REYNOLDS. In presence otl Jaiiirs It. Towssni),

L. BELLE RICE. 

